Edit the contents of a web page prior to printing or saving. Elements in the web page can be edited, formatted, hidden or deleted. Unwanted content, such as adverts and sidebars, can easily be removed.

Extension Metadata

Used by

Version 23.2• New option to allow Inspect while Format panel is open.• Removed options to specify PDF file name prefix and suffix.• New option to specify the PDF file name using text and/or predefined fields.• New option to replace spaces in the PDF file name with a user-defined character.• New predefined fields: %TITLE%, %PATH% and %FILE%.• Existing predefined field %DOMAIN% renamed %HOST%.• Minor bug fixes.

Print Edit WE provides facilities to edit the contents of a web page prior to printing or saving as HTML or PDF. Elements in the web page can be formatted, hidden or deleted and text can be edited or inserted. Unwanted content, such as adverts and sidebars, can easily be removed.

Print Edit WE is the successor to the well established Print Edit add-on. Print Edit WE is implemented using the new WebExtensions API and is available for both Firefox and Chrome with identical functions and user interfaces.

BASIC OPERATION

To start editing the page, click on the Print Edit WE button on the main toolbar, or select Print Edit WE > Print Edit on the context menu. A blue 'EDIT' (editing) badge will appear on the button.

The 'Web Style' feature is disabled by default, so that the page displayed looks similar to how the page would look if printed normally. When the 'Web Style' feature is enabled, the page displayed will look similar to how the page looks during normal browsing.

The 'Text Pieces' feature is disabled by default, so that only whole blocks of text can be selected. When the 'Text Pieces' feature is enabled, individual pieces of text can be selected and edited and line breaks are displayed.

An edited web page can be saved as a single HTML file, which can be viewed or re-edited using Firefox or Chrome. An edited web page can also be saved as a PDF file.

Click the 'Preview' button to see how the edited web page will look when printed. Close the preview window to return to editing.

Note, if you are using Print Edit WE in Firefox 55 or earlier, clicking the 'Preview' button (or pressing 'P' or 'Ctrl+P') will always open the Print dialog, rather than the preview window.

There are options to:

• default to enabling selection of Text Pieces on entry.• default to enabling display with Web Style on entry.• not ask the user about saving edits when closing an edited web page.• ask the user about leaving an edited web page only if the edits are not saved.

• Help - show the Help panel.• Tools- access to the Fix Page Breaks feature and the Options dialog.

KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

To initiate Print Edit, press Alt+P. To initiate Print Preview when not editing a web page, press Alt+Shift+P. These shortcuts can be reconfigured in the Shortcuts tab of the Print Edit WE Options page.

Each button or menu item on the Print Edit WE toolbar has a keyboard shortcut, which is the letter that is underlined in the name of the button or menu item.

The highlight box (solid border) is positioned over an element by moving the mouse over the element. If necessary, the position of the highlight box can be adjusted using the Expand (Up Arrow) and Shrink (Down Arrow) keys. The element is then selected by clicking the mouse or by pressing the Select (Enter) key.

The position of the highlight box can also be adjusted and the element selected using the Expand, Shrink and Select buttons in the Inspect panel.

SELECTING ELEMENTS

An individual element is selected by moving the mouse, so that the highlight box (solid border) is positioned over the element, and then clicking the mouse (or pressing Enter). The highlight box then changes to a selection box (dashed border). Any number of elements can be selected, one after another, before applying an edit command.

Any selected element can be deselected by moving the mouse, so that the highlight box (solid border) is positioned over the selected element, and then clicking the mouse (or pressing Enter). The selection box (dashed border) then disappears.

Multiple elements can be selected together by dragging the mouse to draw a rectangular capture area which encloses the elements. When the mouse is released, all of the elements within the capture area are selected. To select just graphic elements, hold down the Shift key when dragging the mouse.

To deselet multiple elements, hold down the the Ctrl key when dragging the mouse.

If the start point of the capture area is within a <frame> or <iframe>, then the capture area can only be dragged within the boundaries of the <frame> or <iframe>.

All selected elements can be deselected by clicking the Deselect button.

There are options to:

• make elements still selectable after a Hide command.• reinstate select boxes after an Undo command.• show wider borders for the highlight and selection boxes.• shade the background for selection boxes.• snap the capture box start point to the web page edge.

EDITING AND INSERTING TEXT

The Text command allows a selected piece of text to be edited, or new text to be inserted before or after a selected element or selected piece of text. The Text command button is only enabled when a single element or single piece of text is selected.

Normally, an individual piece of text can only be selected if the Text Pieces feature is enabled. However, when the Text Pieces feature is disabled, any individual pieces of text that have been previously edited will remain selectable and editable.

The Text popup panel provides a text box where an existing piece of text can be edited or new text can be prepared before being inserted. All of the standard editing keyboard shortcuts (e.g. arrow keys, Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V) can be used in the text box.

There is an option to show line breaks when the Text Pieces feature is enabled.

APPLYING FORMAT PROPERTIES

The Format command allows up to twenty-six format properties to be applied to the selected elements. These format properties affect both the layout of the content and its appearance, and can be used to reduce the space that the content occupies on the printed page and to improve its readability.

The format properties can be applied individually by ticking the checkboxes in the Properties section, or in groups by using the buttons in the Quick Styles section. The value of a format property can be changed by clicking the small arrow buttons next to the property value. Click on the property value to reset it to the default value.

The Properties section can be shown or hidden by clicking the Show/Hide Properties (down/up chevron) button. The values of all of the format properties can be reset to their default values by clicking the Reset Properties (arrows target) button.

The format properties can be applied to just the selected elements or to their nested sub-elements as well, and can also be restricted to specific content types (e.g. Blocks or List Items). The Format command can be applied multiple times to the same element.

INSPECTING FORMAT PROPERTIES

The current format properties for an element can be displayed in the Inspect popup panel. This is displayed by moving the mouse, so that the highlight box (solid border) is positioned over the element, and then right-clicking the mouse.

The Inspect panel has three buttons (Expand, Shrink and Select) which allow positioning of the highlight box and selection of the highlighted element.

There is an option to allow the Inspect panel to be opened when the Format panel is open.

ADJUSTING PAGE BREAKS

Page breaks can be applied or avoided using the 'Page Break' property in the Format panel.

Page breaks can also be applied using the 'Page Breaks' button in the Format panel or using the hash (#) keyboard shortcut.

There is an option to default to avoiding page breaks inside images.

SAVING AS HTML FILE

The Save As HTML menu item allows an edited web page to be saved as a single HTML file (including styling, images and fonts) that can be opened and re-edited in Firefox or Chrome.

There are options to specify the saved file name using text or predefined fields and to replace spaces with a user-defined character.

The saved file name may contain the following predefined fields:

• %TITLE% - the document title or if this is empty the same as %FILE%• %DATE% - the current date in YYYY-MM-DD format• %TIME% - the current time in HH-MM-SS format• %HOST% - the host name in the page or resource URL• %PATH% - the path in the page or resource URL without the final file extension• %FILE% - the file in the last segment of the path without the final file extension